The London Symphony Orchestra announced the full programme of concerts for the 2026/27 concert season from September 2026 to July 2027.
- Sir Antonio Pappano conducts 5 new works, 3 Vaughan Williams symphonies, Russian and German masterworks, and 2 concert performances of Verdi’s La traviata.
- Steve Reich at 90 – conducted by Susanna Mälkki.
- John Adams at 80 – Sir Simon Rattle leads the celebration; John Adams conducts the LSO.
- Barbara Hannigan – finding the American voice – Ives, Crawford Seeger, Ruggles, Richard Rodgers, Gershwin.
- Gianandrea Noseda dives into Prokofiev opera and ballet suites.
- Thomas Adès juxtaposes Sibelius, Saariaho with his own works.
- Conductors Alain Altinoglu, Elim Chan, Gustavo Gimeno, André J Thomas, Klaus Mäkela, Maxime Pascal, Nathalie Stutzmann.
- Soloists include Bertrand Chamayou, Isabelle Faust, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Bruce Liu, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Víkingur Ólafsson, Antoine Tamestit, Christian Tetzlaff, Maxim Vengerov, Yuja Wang, Alisa Weilerstein, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider and LSO Principals David Cohen and James Fountain.
- A season of special one-off concerts – Atlantic Requiem, Soweto Kinch, Symphonic Cinema, Christmas Gospel, Alexandre Desplat.
- Tours to Asia, the US, and a residency at Aix-en-Provence Festival.
The London Symphony Orchestra’s 2026/27 Season places music of our time at its heart. Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, in his third season as Chief Conductor, brings to life five new works, conducts large-scale symphonies by Shostakovich, Mahler and Bruckner, and concludes his cycle of Vaughan Wiliams symphonies, with the Third, Eighth and Sinfonia antartica. The Season also marks significant milestone birthdays for two towering figures of contemporary music: Steve Reich and John Adams. Both composers have profoundly shaped modern musical language, and the LSO pays tribute through concerts dedicated to their work while further new music is woven through the entire Season programme.
Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano’s Barbican Season 2026/27
Following an extensive Asian tour in September and October 2026, during the Barbican Hall’s summer closure for essential repairs, Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano opens the LSO’s Barbican Season on 18 and 22 October with a striking double bill. The programme begins with a new work by Dai Fujikura, Amber Alchemy, paired with Mahler’s monumental Symphony No 2. Amber Alchemy was commissioned by Nomura Holdings in celebration of its 100th anniversary, written for the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Antonio Pappano; the work receives its premiere in Japan during the September/October tour.
His second concert features the UK premiere of a new Cello Concerto by British composer Edmund Finnis with guest soloist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, coupled with Bruckner’s Symphony No 9, before the world premiere of another LSO commission for Hannah Kendall, a work for voice and orchestra with guest mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron. This work is presented alongside Anatoly Liadov’s The Enchanted Lake and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5.
In November, Pappano brings to a close his acclaimed exploration of the symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams, conducting Symphonies Nos 3, 8 and 7, with all three symphonies recorded on LSO Live. These programmes are completed by Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 3, Sibelius’ The Swan of Tuonela, and the world premiere of an LSO commission from Richard Dubugnon: Sonnenring for violin and orchestra, featuring soloist Janine Jansen.
February 2027 sees Sir Antonio joined by two top-flight soloists: cellist Alisa Weilerstein for Elgar’s Cello Concerto, and Maxim Vengerov for Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, both artists joining the LSO on their US tour later in the month.
In May 2027, Sir Antonio returns to the podium to conduct a fifth new work, this time by Bernard Foccroulle, whose long relationship with the LSO dates back to his time as Artistic Director of Festival d’Aix en Provence. For this work titled ‘Uiesh’ he sets texts by Canadian innu poet Josephine Bacon. This is a co-commission by the LSO, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and Frankfurt Radio Orchestra. The programme opens with Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer, performed by mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, and concludes with Scriabin’s The Poem of Ectasy (Symphony No 4).
Sir Antonio’s LSO Barbican season closes with opera, establishing a summer tradition, with two performances of Verdi’s La traviata. The cast includes Slávka Zamecniková as Violetta, Piotr Buszewski as Alfredo and Stéphane Degout as Giorgio Germont.
Birthdays for John Adams and Steve Reich
John Adams turns 80 during the Season, and the LSO celebrates its long association with him across several concerts. Sir Simon Rattle appears in his customary New Year slot in January 2027, revisiting Frenzy, John Adams’ 2024 70th birthday gift to him, in a programme that also includes an extract from Adams’ opera-oratorio The Gospel According to the Other Mary and Harmonielehre, across two concerts on 7 and 10 January.
John Adams himself conducts the LSO on Wednesday 13 January, opening with some of his earlier works: his 1986 Short Ride in a Fast Machine and 1978 Shaker Loops, followed by The Chairman Dances and his recent work from 2025: After the Fall – his Piano Concerto No 4 – featuring soloist Víkingur Ólafsson. Adams’ music returns later in the Season at the LSO Futures concert, in recognition of his influence on contemporary music composition, conducted by Elim Chan. Two further Adams’ works frame a programme of new compositions by LSO Helen Hamlyn Panufnik Composers’ Scheme alumni Laila Arafah and Yunho Jeong, alongside a third LSO commission: a Trumpet Concerto by Joel Järventausta featuring LSO Principal Trumpet James Fountain.
Steve Reich celebrates his 90th birthday in October 2026, and the LSO honours the occasion with conductor and close collaborator Susanna Mälkki leading both a Half Six Fix and a full evening concert. Across these performances she conducts five of Reich’s works: Music for a Large Ensemble, Music for Pieces of Wood, Variations for Winds, Strings and Keyboards, Three Movements and Music for Ensemble and Orchestra. The LSO Percussion Ensemble will also perform an evening of Steve Reich works on Saturday 5 December in LSO St Luke’s.
LSO Associate Artist Barbara Hannigan curates an all-American programme during her period with the LSO this Season, featuring works by Charles Ives, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Wallingford Riegger, Carl Ruggles, Richard Rodgers and George Gershwin.
Sir Simon Rattle makes a second appearance with four further concerts, including a Half Six Fix and a full evening programme focusing on Prokofiev’s Symphony No 5. These concerts include Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune and the UK premiere of Francesco Filidei’s Viola Concerto (2020), with Antoine Tamestit as soloist. For his final 2026/27 concerts on 18 and 20 April, Sir Simon conducts two performances of Mahler’s Symphony No 3.
The LSO’s Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda makes two visits to the Barbican in December 2026 and May 2027, focusing on Russian repertoire. In December, he explores Prokofiev’s music for the stage with suites from The Love for Three Oranges and Chout, alongside Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No 2. In May, Noseda turns to Prokofiev’s operatic repertoire, with extracts from Betrothal in a Monastery and The Gambler, presented alongside Sibelius’ Violin Concerto with Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider as guest soloist. Noseda’s final concert features LSO Principal Cello David Cohen playing Schnittke’s rarely performed Cello Concerto No 1 paired with Stravinsky’s The Firebird.
Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda
Gianandrea Noseda will be with the LSO during February 2026, with concerts featuring both Artist Portrait soloists. Pianist Seong-Jin Cho is guest soloist for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 2, which is programmed alongside Stravinsky’s Divertimento from The Fairy’s Kiss, and Borodin’s Symphony No 2 (12 & 15 Feb). For his other programme, Berg’s Violin Concerto, with Patricia Kopatchinskaja as guest soloist, is programmed with Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No 1 as the focus of a Half Six Fix (25 Feb) and Debussy’s Three Nocturnes No 1: Nuages and No 2 Fêtes. The 2025/26 season will also see Noseda conclude his Shostakovich and Prokofiev recording cycles, with the complete symphonies of both composers release on LSO Live.
Guest Conductors
The LSO welcomes the return of conductors Thomas Adès, Alain Altinoglu, Elim Chan, Klaus Mäkela, Maxime Pascal, André J Thomas and Nathalie Stutzmann.
Thomas Adès is the first to appear, continuing his exploration of northern European music interwoven with his own compositions. On 5 November he opens with Per Nørgård’s Dream Play, followed by his Piano Concerto In Seven Days (2008) with Bernard Chamayou as soloist, concluding with Sibelius’ Symphony No 5. Three days later, Adès conducts Sibelius’ The Oceanides and Symphony No 7, alongside Kaija Saariaho’s Oltra Mar (1999), finishing with the expanded 2024 version of his work America: A Prophecy, featuring mezzo-soprano Anna Dennis.
Alain Altinoglu joins in February 2027 to conduct the UK premiere of further LSO commission: Ondřej Adámek’s Thin Ice, his concerto for Violin and Orchestra No 2 with Christian Tetzlaff the guest soloist. Maxime Pascal, for his visit, is joined by violinist Isabelle Faust for Brett Dean’s The Lost Art of Letter Writing, in a busy February with Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra completing the bill.
Klaus Mäkelä, in his second collaboration with LSO, is welcomed in April 2027 to conduct Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht for string orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony No 7. Nathalie Stutzmann appears later in the Barbican Season, conducting Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 5 with Janine Jansen as soloist, alongside Bruckner’s Symphony No 5.
Gustavo Gimeno in his debut with the LSO conducts the LSO’s Christmas holiday programme with guest soloist Yuja Wang performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 3 with Mussorgsky’s Night on a Bare Mountain as an opener, with a Suite from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake rounding off the evening.
Artist Portrait
Violinist Janine Jansen, with whom the LSO has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship, joins for three performances in an Artist Portrait series, taking in concertos by Mozart and the French-Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon. She also performs a solo recital with Sir Antonio Pappano on piano in LSO St Luke’s in early December.
LSO Principals
LSO Principal Cello David Cohen will play the rarely performed Schnittke Cello Concerto No 1 with Gianandrea Noseda conducting on 13 May, and LSO Principal Trumpet James Fountain plays the Joel Järventausta Trumpet Concerto premiere as part of the LSO Futures concert conducted by Elim Chan.
Season Specials
With a break from tradition, the LSO 2026/27 Season begins on 11 October 2026 at LSO St Luke’s during the UK’s Black History Month with the world premiere of Atlantic Requiem by David Önaç. The work draws on research by Johns Hopkins University into the historic interest of Lloyds of London in providing insurance for ships involved in the Transatlantic Trade in Enslaved Africans – along with the liturgical ritual and biblical texts and documents from the Lloyd’s archive. The sound world is influenced by the composer’s cultural heritage, bringing together European contemporary classical music and the African American traditions of spirituals, jazz and gospel. Guest conductor Anthony Parthner makes his LSO debut conducting, joined by mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges and tenor Orson Van Gay II, with BBC Singers providing the Chorus. LSO Live will film and record the piece.
A second special event takes place at the end of January 2027 with two performances of Symphonic Cinema, a project already established internationally for its reimagining of the relationship between music and filmic storytelling. Ben Gernon conducts, while Dutch film director Lucas van Woerkum synchronises the film Loss in real time during a performance of Holst’s The Planets. Loss features actors Emma Thompson and Greg Wise and follows the journey of a soul bidding farewell to earthly life.
In November, the LSO presents the culmination of the special partnership with jazz saxophonist Soweto Kinch as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival, featuring a concert of excerpts from the trilogy of his works The Black Peril, White Juju and Soundtrack to the Apocalypse.
The annual Symphonic Gospel concert takes place in early December, setting the tone for the holiday season later in month, curated and conducted by LSO Associate Artist André J Thomas with the LSO Community Choir, Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir and London Symphony Chorus.
A final one-off special occurs on Sunday 13 June when the LSO presents an evening with composer and conductor Alexandre Desplat. With over 30 films scores recorded with the LSO, Alexandre Desplat rejoins the Orchestra on stage to showcase highlights from his career and their decades-long collaboration.
LSO St Luke’s
A full programme of BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concerts and performances by Associate Artists will take place through the Season.
On the Road – major new residencies and tour dates
A central focus of the 2026/27 Season is a major Asia tour led by Chief Conductor Sir Antonio Pappano, running from 12 September to 3 October 2026. The tour includes performances in Shanghai, Beijing, Kyoto, Tokyo and Osaka, before concluding in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Orchestra will return to the United States in February and March 2027, introducing a new residency model in Palm Desert and Ann Arbor. Each residency will include two concerts alongside an expanded programme of LSO Discovery activity, with education and community engagement embedded before, during and after each visit.
In Palm Desert, the LSO’s work will focus on deepening connections with students and teachers, enriching the curriculum and strengthening partnerships with the McCallum Theatre and Palm Springs Philharmonic school communities. In Ann Arbor, the Discovery programme is shaped in response to growing pressures on the healthcare and medical research sectors. Set against a backdrop of political uncertainty and threats to public access to healthcare, the initiative aims to explore how music and cross-sector collaboration can contribute meaningfully to this critical moment.
The US tour will include the Orchestra’s first appearance at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles since 2015, its first visit to Boston since 2009, performances in Florida, culminating in two concerts at Carnegie Hall, New York.
Elsewhere on tour, the LSO will give 20 further performances across Europe during the 2026/27 Season, with conductors John Adams, Susanna Mälkki, Sir Antonio Pappano and Sir Simon Rattle.
LSO Live
LSO Live enters the 2026/27 season with an ambitious slate of new recordings. Highlights include Sir Antonio Pappano’s new account of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, which will be recorded in April 2026 and released in spring 2027. The label also continues its acclaimed Prokofiev cycle with Gianandrea Noseda, expanding into a series of the composer’s vivid orchestral suites.
Looking ahead, preparations are underway for a major new recording of John Adams’ Frenzy, with a release timed to celebrate the composer’s 80th birthday in early 2027. During the season, LSO Live will also capture performances of David Önaç’s Atlantic Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Symphonies Nos 3 and 8 for future release, continuing to broaden the label’s commitment to both contemporary voices and core British repertoire.
Media Enquiries:
Christopher Millard, Head of Press & External Relations
London Symphony Orchestra
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
D +44 20 7382 2550 | chris.millard@lso.co.uk
M +44 7545 502226
